The New England Patriots Charitable Foundation: Helping Others in a Variety of Ways

When a football fan thinks of the New England Patriots, he might well think of excellence. After all the team has won three Super Bowl titles and is currently bidding for the first perfect season in the NFL since the implementation of the 16 game season. The New England Patriots and the team's make take a back seat to no other team when it comes to football success, but the team also is second to none when it comes to its charities and how it helps those in the local community.

The team is involved in giving tickets to Boys and Girls Club members of Boston, a blood donor center, a cancer institute, various educational institutions, the Salvation Army, Goodwill Industries, and other charities. Involvement extends from the team owner down to players.

The New England Patriots Charitable Foundation Incorporated attempts to assist charitable organizations and programs in supporting educational, family, and health initiatives throughout New England. The Patriots help the charities through financial grants, tickets and Patriots memorabilia to be sold at fundraisers, and appearances by players at charity and educational events. The charity was founded by team owner Robert Kraft after he purchased the team in 1994.

The New England Patriots Charitable Foundation assists the Megan Memorial Goodwill Industries. That branch of the Goodwill Industries provides on-the-job-training to 1,500 people with physical and cognitive disabilities, assisted 7,000 individuals in finding jobs, worked with 600 employers, been an employer itself, provided educational training to 500 young people, given Thanksgiving meals, and assisted people in other ways.

The team's charity traditionally assists the Salvation Army in providing hundreds of Thanksgiving meals and toys to those in the community.

The New England Patriots Charitable Foundation has given tickets to members of the Boys and Girls clubs of Boston to attend games at Gillette Stadium. The Boys and Girls Clubs attempts to provide role models and a variety of programs that support educational, emotional, physical, and social development of youth from 6-14. There are programs in sports, technology, leadership, arts, education, life skills, and fitness and recreation.

The charity assists a variety of health care programs, including the Robert K. Craft Blood Donor Center at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The Institute was founded in 1947 in an attempt to provide children with compassionate, state-of-the-art care.

This year the New England Patriots Charitable Foundation has teamed for the first time with the Jordan Boys and Girls Club of Chelsea.

A variety of players have been involved in helping those in the New England area. Patriots defensive lineman Ty Warren and his 1^st and Goal Foundation took children from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Brockton Christmas shopping. Wide receiver Wes Welker and center Dan Koppen and others talked with high school students about the importance of fiscal literacy. A group of players fed 350 homeless people a meal at the Pine Street Inn in Boston. Those are just a few examples of how the Patriots players have helped others.

When a typical sports fan thinks of the New England Patriots, he no doubt thinks of football excellence. A lot of people in the New England community, however, are also glad that the team cares about others.